Consumer inflation rises to 2.57% in February from 1.97% in January

India's consumer inflation rose to four-month high of 2.57 per cent in February 2019, as compared to 1.97 per cent in January. The latest price data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on March 12 showed that consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation, which measures changes in shop-end prices, remained comfortably within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) target level of 4 per cent.  

The retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 1.97 per cent in January and 4.44 per cent in February 2018. Food inflation based on CPI, however, was in negative at 0.66 per cent. The latest print is higher than (-) 2.24 per cent in January. The earlier lowest inflation was 2.33 per cent in November 2018. The Reserve Bank factors in retail inflation while deciding at its monetary policy.